Samsung add Galaxy Gear compatibility to 8 more smartphones

Samsung’s Galaxy Gear smartwatch launched earlier this month, and whilst it is a functional and pretty piece of kit, the major downside was in it being locked down completely to the new Galaxy Note 3. This made Samsung’s target market for the Gear incredibly narrow, the high price in combination with a new handset also likely to put off a number of interested parties as well.

Thankfully Samsung provided a press release yesterday outlining their plans to bring Galaxy Gear compatibility to the most recent range of Galaxy handsets. If you have a Galaxy S4, S3, Note 2, S4 Mini, Mega 5.8, Mega 6.3, S4 Zoom or S4 Active then you’re in luck. OTA software updates will be rolling out soon as this snippet states:

Galaxy Gear will be available for use with Galaxy S4, S III, and Note II through the Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) update. The update came first to Galaxy S4 devices in Germany in October. Samsung will also extend Galaxy Gear compatibility to other GALAXY devices – including Galaxy S4 mini, S4 Active, Mega 5.8, Mega 6.3, and S4 zoom – through a separate software update beginning at the end of October. Software update schedules for each device will vary by country and carrier

The release mentions that the update for the Galaxy S4 is beginning in Germany; here at Clove UK we can confirm that our in-house Gear is now able to connect to a recently updated UK SIM free Galaxy S4 as well.

Android 4.3

The Note 2, Galaxy S3 & S4 will also receive Android 4.3 Jelly Bean as part of this update. They will be moved up from 4.2.x and find new features including easier text input and updated graphics and multimedia. Certain Samsung features and apps will also get an overhaul including:

Josh

Josh joined Clove part time a few years ago whilst studying Computing at Bournemouth University. Since finishing his studies he has remained at Clove in a full time position, involved in sales, returns and social media.
Involved with both consumer electronics and software since the mid 2000s, keeping up to date with industry developments is as much a hobby as it is a job.
Easy going but never afraid to share an opinion, Josh can often be found in his spare time listening to some heavy rock or at a local gig as well as playing with the latest gadgets and video games.

Comments

Hi Josh, here is an interesting (I hope) and not too controversial question for you. I now own a fully functioning Sony Smartwatch 2 sw2, I also own an i’m watch (although this I am tempted to sell, nice though it is! I have a Samsung Note 3 and an Xperia z1.

Is it worth purchasing the Samsung Gear and if it was a battle between the Sony sw2 and the Samsung Gear, which would you rate higher?

Hi John, really good question. The crux of the matter will really lie in how much use you get out of your main phones.
The Gear will not work with your Xperia, or anything outside of Samsung’s sanctioned Galaxy range devices. If you regularly swap out phones then the Gear will become useless as anything other than fancy looking timepiece every time you stray from Galaxy handsets.
If you plan to stick to Samsung handsets for the foreseeable future (or at least most of the time) then I would recommend picking up a Gear if it’s in your budget. It does everything the SW2 does however there are a number of features that tie it into the Samsung ecosystem really well. The camera works brilliantly (if you like that sort of thing) and the call handling with speaker/microphone is excellent. Proper sci-fi being able to answer, hold a full conversation then hang up with your wrist alone!
It’s been a detracting point in many reviews but I think Samsung’s decision to lock the Gear to their own devices will pay off in the end. It lets them focus on interoperability with their own services and tailor 3rd party support just how they want it. I can see the Gear being a slow burner, maybe with the second version next year really lighting up reviews – a bit like the original Note phone.
It’s difficult to pick a ‘winner’ as they are clearly targeting different markets, Sony having the cheaper ‘catch-all’ approach.

In view of the fact that my Sony works on my Samsung Note 3, for now I think I will stick to the one. Then again, I have several ‘normal’ watches, so having two different Smart-watches may not be as daft as it sounds!!

Definitely going to sell my i’m watch and then put the money towards the Samsung Gear!